Rear End/Tires

[Loren]

The bright side is that it happened early, you were home and it was resolved quickly. gear ratio would have little to do with it . My 94 5.9 demped my rear way after warranty and I had towed nothing with it other then a brush trailer on occasion to the dump. Go figure

Jacknife,

Actually, Bill's issue hasn't been resolved. RVTRKN answered my question, I assume because he thought this was a thread about his problem. Later in this thread Bill also answered. If you see Bill's last few posts you'll see that he's not happy with the way it was handled.

-- Loren

 

[Bill]

Jacknife,

Actually, Bill's issue hasn't been resolved. RVTRKN answered my question, I assume because he thought this was a thread about his problem. Later in this thread Bill also answered. If you see Bill's last few posts you'll see that he's not happy with the way it was handled.

-- Loren

Loren: you are so correct, I'm not happy with the way everything was handled. There are some fantastic service departments- managers and mechanics that work on our trucks. The flip side are those who do not fall within that particular group. You also have to factor in the good and bad service writers. They are good at pushing paperwork from one place to the other. Two at my dealership just became service writers. One was a "lot boy," the other worked in the detail department. Now they are giving out Technical information to customers with serious problems with our trucks. I've resigned myself to the fact that Dodge is competing with Ford and Chevy. The engineers at Dodge have done a nice job of making trucks look better. However, when it comes to making the tires go around and around, the many engineers who work on different sections on the mechanical end, in my personal opinion, don't communicate enough with each other and the end results are trucks that seem to have far more problems than they use to. Additionally, they probably under a lot of pressure from the arm chair quarterbacks to stay ahead of the curve so they can, year to year, claim to be better than Ford or Chevy. Just my .02 opinion. Regardless, "if it is made by man, it will break down."

 

[2rrRAM2nv]

just had my rearend guts replaced a few weeks ago because the gears were pitted and making a humming noise at exactly 40mph. the truck sees freeway 90% of its life and only has 28k miles on it. kinda irritating considering it hasn't towed a single thing. NOTHING!!! and has maybe 1000lbs in the bed MAYBE once. My truck doesn't get abused and yet the rearend craps out.


even worse, 4 other truck owners had their truck getting worked on for the same repairs. WTH???

 

[Bill]

just had my rearend guts replaced a few weeks ago because the gears were pitted and making a humming noise at exactly 40mph. the truck sees freeway 90% of its life and only has 28k miles on it. kinda irritating considering it hasn't towed a single thing. NOTHING!!! and has maybe 1000lbs in the bed MAYBE once. My truck doesn't get abused and yet the rearend craps out.


even worse, 4 other truck owners had their truck getting worked on for the same repairs. WTH???

One of many complaints with my truck is both rear tires breaking traction on dry pavement. Then immediately following that, I hear this loud "clunking" noise. It started awhile back when I pressed a little harder on the "go pedal." But I have done that many times if I want to get ahead of oncoming vehicles. Service manager said I was pressing to hard and it is causing the back tires to break traction. I can't break traction on the tires even if I wanted to! So somewhere in the midst of all of this IS the problem. I have this bad feeling, with only 6,500 miles on the truck, the rear end is going to take a dump. Still under warranty.

 

[RVTRKN]

Any kind of warning signs before it went? Clunking??

No clunking, but it did make odd noises sometimes when in a sharp slow turn. I noticed a droning noise around 35-40 MPH, sorta like what 2rrRAM2nv has described below. But the difference between his and mine was the carnage. My axle tubes with with housing and all gears and bearings were replaced, they should have just ordered a new assembly. The best way to know if your rear diff has an issue is to get the truck up to 35-40 then let off the throttle so there is no pressure on the gears. You will hear , or not, a metal on metal noise, as if the bearings have no lubricant. I tried to capture the noise on my iPhone, but it didn't pick up the noise. Thought I would get the run around like Bill is experiencing, but the tech removed the cover and the carnage was evident.

just had my rearend guts replaced a few weeks ago because the gears were pitted and making a humming noise at exactly 40mph. the truck sees freeway 90% of its life and only has 28k miles on it. kinda irritating considering it hasn't towed a single thing. NOTHING!!! and has maybe 1000lbs in the bed MAYBE once. My truck doesn't get abused and yet the rearend craps out.


even worse, 4 other truck owners had their truck getting worked on for the same repairs. WTH???

 

[Bill]

No clunking, but it did make odd noises sometimes when in a sharp slow turn. I noticed a droning noise around 35-40 MPH, sorta like what 2rrRAM2nv has described below. But the difference between his and mine was the carnage. My axle tubes with with housing and all gears and bearings were replaced, they should have just ordered a new assembly. The best way to know if your rear diff has an issue is to get the truck up to 35-40 then let off the throttle so there is no pressure on the gears. You will hear , or not, a metal on metal noise, as if the bearings have no lubricant. I tried to capture the noise on my iPhone, but it didn't pick up the noise. Thought I would get the run around like Bill is experiencing, but the tech removed the cover and the carnage was evident.

In the morning I'm going to fire up the Beast and drive it in the speeds you said and get off the throttle. You said I may or may not hear the noise. Can you give me a rough time frame between hearing and not hearing the noise? When I give a little more pressure on the throttle that is when the tires break loose. Immediately after taking pressure "off" the throttle that is when I hear the clunking sound. Lately, when I hear the clunking I can feel an ever slight vibration for a couple of seconds. Driveshaft appears to have no slack. No oil/grease that I can see. Service department pulled the Diff drain plug and said there didn't appear to be metal pieces in the oil. But after I do the speed test tomorrow, I'm going to drain the Diff oil and put in new. Then I'm taking a sample of it and have it analyzed for any kind of excessive metals.

Realizing there is only 6,500 miles on the truck, when I had to go into 4 wheel, there was a hesitation before it locked in AND hesitation taking it out. Though it was normal due to low mileage. BUT having to use 4 wheel again, that is when the "up front" clunking started. Now when I am out of 4 wheel for days, I still get the clunking but it may be a day between the noise, although to complicate matters I have heard and felt the vibration coming from both rear AND front. I've only pulled my 32' - 10,000 lb (empty) travel trailer five times.
Now that they have replaced the parts on your truck, is everything working correctly? I'll let you know how my test drive goes tomorrow.
TKS for the info.

 

[RVTRKN]

My 2014 is not 4X4, it was the rear diff that scrambled, but the same theory should apply. If you don't hear it, then maybe it's not in the diff, is what I meant. When my rear diff was noticeable, it had a slight droning sound, as I started to determine where the noise were coming from, I determined the rear diff was the culprit using the 35-40 MPG with no pressure on the driveline. No back or forward pressure applied would cause the noise.

 

[2rrRAM2nv]

good luck and hope it all works out.

I sure hope mine doesn't crap out again... if so, I'm putting aftermarket 4.10 gears in and calling it the day. I should be out of warranty by then...


as far as breaking the tires loose.... shouldn't be a prob... mine does it at will without trying very hard. not that I'm condoning it... just saying.... all the monstrous torque should make traction a laughing matter.

 

[Bill]

good luck and hope it all works out.

I sure hope mine doesn't crap out again... if so, I'm putting aftermarket 4.10 gears in and calling it the day. I should be out of warranty by then...


as far as breaking the tires loose.... shouldn't be a prob... mine does it at will without trying very hard. not that I'm condoning it... just saying.... all the monstrous torque should make traction a laughing matter.

Well if breaking traction is no problem then I probably have another problem. :>( My truck will not do it. Furthermore, my 2012 Dodge would not do it???

A quick edit: If I put a little more pressure on the throttle, yes, my tires break loose. But not in a " normal" breaking loose sense. They feel like they are "freewheeling" and a second or so is when I hear the clunking noise. I can't really explain this but after driving it this morning, I really paid attention to what was going on. When it felt like the tires were freewheeling and then stopped, it was when I felt the tires grab. That is when I heard/felt the clunking noise. All my problems are well documented at the service department and I have a stack of copies. Not going back to the dealer at this time. It would be a waste of my time. Need to figure out the total "downtime" because I think Oregon's Lemon Law states I have to have a total of one month, without my truck, before I can file a claim.

 

[Bill]

In the morning I'm going to fire up the Beast and drive it in the speeds you said and get off the throttle. You said I may or may not hear the noise. Can you give me a rough time frame between hearing and not hearing the noise? When I give a little more pressure on the throttle that is when the tires break loose. Immediately after taking pressure "off" the throttle that is when I hear the clunking sound. Lately, when I hear the clunking I can feel an ever slight vibration for a couple of seconds. Driveshaft appears to have no slack. No oil/grease that I can see. Service department pulled the Diff drain plug and said there didn't appear to be metal pieces in the oil. But after I do the speed test tomorrow, I'm going to drain the Diff oil and put in new. Then I'm taking a sample of it and have it analyzed for any kind of excessive metals.

Realizing there is only 6,500 miles on the truck, when I had to go into 4 wheel, there was a hesitation before it locked in AND hesitation taking it out. Though it was normal due to low mileage. BUT having to use 4 wheel again, that is when the "up front" clunking started. Now when I am out of 4 wheel for days, I still get the clunking but it may be a day between the noise, although to complicate matters I have heard and felt the vibration coming from both rear AND front. I've only pulled my 32' - 10,000 lb (empty) travel trailer five times.
Now that they have replaced the parts on your truck, is everything working correctly? I'll let you know how my test drive goes tomorrow.
TKS for the info.

Well I fired up the beast this morning. All warmed up I took it first, to a long straight stretch of a paved County road. Got the speed up to what you recommend. Took foot off the throttle and listened for any noise. Nothing. On the third try I did hear a very faint "moaning" noise that I had never heard before. Tried two more times and then on the third test I heard the same noise again. I really had to concentrate in order to hear it.

Got off the straight stretch and started driving up some small hills. Got the truck up to speed, off the throttle and on all four tests the same moaning noise but just a tad louder. Did U try your test on any hills? Have to look up the meaning of your droaning and my moaning noises. :>)

When I bought the truck I was told it had 3:73 gears. Got to looking at the window sticker the other day. Under options it says 3:42 gears. Called salesman. He said I have the 73 gears and the option list is just, an option. I'm suppose to be dumb enough to believe that!

Not going to put you on the spot but in your opinion do you believe my problem is coming from the rear diff? I was going to drain the diff oil today to see if I could see or feel any excessive metal in it. Going in for a full knee replacement soon so I couldn't get down to drain it. Have a friend that will do it. I will continue to drive the truck to see if the noise gets louder or changes sounds. Still have one year left on the original warranty and then four years on the extended warranty. Unless the lemon law takes care of things first.

 

[RVTRKN]

It was @ 1000 miles from the first sign of the noise, to loud enough to be alarmed. I did check on slight uphill and downhill runs, the loudest was on slight downhill runs because it was easier to "float" the gear set. If pressure was applied in either direction, it would go away, but on a slight downhill run it was most notable.

 

[RVTRKN]

When I bought the truck I was told it had 3:73 gears. Got to looking at the window sticker the other day. Under options it says 3:42 gears. Called salesman. He said I have the 73 gears and the option list is just, an option. I'm suppose to be dumb enough to believe that!

Not going to put you on the spot but in your opinion do you believe my problem is coming from the rear diff? I was going to drain the diff oil today to see if I could see or feel any excessive metal in it. Going in for a full knee replacement soon so I couldn't get down to drain it. Have a friend that will do it. I will continue to drive the truck to see if the noise gets louder or changes sounds. Still have one year left on the original warranty and then four years on the extended warranty. Unless the lemon law takes care of things first.

I would remover diff covers for inspection, making sure to refill with OEM oil, or they may deny warranty. I would demand that they remove cover's and inspect gear sets, if I was paying for routine diff oil change. I believe it's still 15K mile intervals for severe duty?

Check your VIN for options, there are many members here on TDR that will check for you.

 

[AH64ID]

When I bought the truck I was told it had 3:73 gears. Got to looking at the window sticker the other day. Under options it says 3:42 gears. Called salesman. He said I have the 73 gears and the option list is just, an option. I'm suppose to be dumb enough to believe that!

You have 3.42's as they are the only SRW gear option.

 

[RVTRKN]

Isn't that only for the SRW 3500?

 

[Bill]

I would remover diff covers for inspection, making sure to refill with OEM oil, or they may deny warranty. I would demand that they remove cover's and inspect gear sets, if I was paying for routine diff oil change. I believe it's still 15K mile intervals for severe duty?

Check your VIN for options, there are many members here on TDR that will check for you.

VIN is: 3C6UR5FL8EG162894 - appreciate it.

I shall "demand" based on the following information taken directly from the invoice I had in my den: I quote; Was able to verify a faint clunk when accelerating from a stop. Inspected and found current flash update for the PCM which contains software for Trans Shift Enhancements. Performed glad as per TSB (18-045-15) then performed RFE quick learn procedure. Then test drove vehicle again and found that condition improved but may still be a cause for concern.

A Cause For Concern!! The Flash was suppose to be done earlier and there is no mention of the second flash they said was performed. No recommendation for another appointment or what is was that the mechanic was concerned about.

I just called the service manager and asked for an appointment plus opening the diff for a complete inspection. First available appointment is 19 Jan but service manager said, based o the mechanics findings, there isn't enough justification for any further work. Was told to keep driving my truck and if it gets worse, call back for an appointment. And I bought 13 different vehicles from this dealership and this is what they call "customer satisfaction?" :--)

 

[Bill]

You have 3.42's as they are the only SRW gear option.

TKS John, appreciate the info.

 

[RVTRKN]

You have 3.42's as they are the only SRW gear option.

So that includes 2500's as well?

 

[AH64ID]

So that includes 2500's as well?

Yes. Unless you have a Hemi or a Dually you only get 3.42's.

 

[Bill]

Yes. Unless you have a Hemi or a Dually you only get 3.42's.

I'm going to have fun with this info. Showing it to the sales manager and sales personnel.

 

[Bill]

It was @ 1000 miles from the first sign of the noise, to loud enough to be alarmed. I did check on slight uphill and downhill runs, the loudest was on slight downhill runs because it was easier to "float" the gear set. If pressure was applied in either direction, it would go away, but on a slight downhill run it was most notable.

Well I have a few more miles to put on my truck to see if it's going to get louder.